Howard League Blog

The Equalities and Human Rights Committee (EHRC) of the Scottish Parliament, a cross-party group, has published a report on prisoner voting. It sets out the ethical and some of the practical issues and reviews the evidence it gathered from a wide range of respondents. It is a positive contribution to a difficult debate.  Read more

I have visited seven prisons in the last few weeks and have seen some good things going on. These have included private and public sector, locals and long-termers and women’s prisons.  Read more

“Emergency intervention to sort out failing prison!” The headline I have seen, or a version of it, year after year. I will tell the story of just one prison.  Read more

While snow has laid a blanket over the country, children have enjoyed the experience. But not all children. Children in prison have been locked up in isolation, and refused permission to go out in the snow – even to touch it as they were escorted about the jail.  Read more

The new justice secretary, David Gauke, has given his first speech on prisons. He focused on security, drugs and gangs and indicated that he would confront these scourges which, he suggested, were at the root of the problems faced in prisons.  Read more

I visited a women’s prison last week and met a woman who had been inside many years. There is so much wrong with our sentencing structure, but the point of this blogpost is to look at what can be done to mitigate some of the cruelties of the system today, while we are campaigning for radical change.  Read more

I tweeted this morning about a sports report on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. The reporter talked repeatedly of the ‘girls’ in the Great Britain – yes, I know the country is the UK, but for some reason we get that wrong, too – curling team. I wondered if perhaps the team comprised children. It seems to happen in sport a lot. Men are called men, women are called girls.  Read more

The Times front page story today says that prisoners who are eligible for supervised release will be given the opportunity in greater numbers. This is to be welcomed. The Howard League legal team has battled hard to get young prisoners released on time and with support – it has been an uphill fight.  Read more